Wireless mesh networking used to connect devices to each other, and to cloud-based services, is increasingly popular for sensing environmental conditions, controlling equipment, and providing information and alerts to users. These wireless mesh networks may share radio spectrum with other wireless radio systems, and operate in radio bands under unlicensed or license-free regulatory regimes. For example wireless local area network (WLAN) technologies, such as Wi-Fi, share radio spectrum with wireless personal area network (WPAN) technologies, such as IEEE 802.15.4. The various radio systems that share spectrum are designed to accept interference from each other, as specified in the various regulatory regimes. Some wireless systems and standards are designed to evaluate noise, energy, and/or interference in radio channels, in order to determine the best frequency or frequencies on which to start a mesh network. However a mesh network device, such as a ZigBee coordinator, may only scan radio channels when starting a network, and is only able to measure energy within the operating range of its receiver. However a mesh network may cover a much larger area than the coordinator can evaluate by itself, and other radio signals may appear and disappear in the operating area of the mesh network over time that were not be present when the coordinator started the network.